


Duumvirate

by Drowned_in_Feels



Category: Rhett & Link, The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek
Genre: 1990s, Bleak creek, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Leif Nelson POV, Love Confessions, North Carolina, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek - Freeform, contains spoilers for the whole book, this is about the bleak creek characters and not about rhett and link
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22545634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drowned_in_Feels/pseuds/Drowned_in_Feels
Summary: A few months after the events at the Whitewood School, Leif and Alicia finally confess their feelings for each other.
Relationships: Leif Nelson (Bleak Creek)/Alicia Boykins (Bleak Creek)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Duumvirate

**Author's Note:**

> I only just got around to reading the book, I know it came out last October, and I was surprised to find out that nobody had written fanfic for it. Even though Leif's and Alicia's relationship was right there. So, I did that. This is only tagged under the Rhett & Link fandom tag so that people will actually see it but it's not about them, it's about Bleak Creek. Enjoy.

Rex wasn't at school. Leif and Alicia worried about him as they sat together during their lunch break. It was weird to sit together, just the two of them instead of the full Triumvirate. Rex had seemed fine the day before. They didn't know why he was missing school.

Maybe there had been a family emergency, maybe he had just gotten sick very suddenly. Or maybe, and neither Leif nor Alicia dared to say this out loud, it had something to do with the Bleak Creek Spring.

It had been multiple months now since the incidents at the Whitewood School but the memories were haunting them every day. Of course, Leif and Alicia tried to forget everything most of the time but that wasn't very easy. Every night, when he tried to fall asleep, Leif could still see the faces of all the other children trapped in the Void. And a part of him didn't want to forget about them. He wanted to keep their memory alive, honour them. But another part of him just wanted to fall asleep as quickly as he used to.

And now, with Rex unexpectedly missing school, Leif was worried that something had happened to him. So was Alicia. She said: “We should call his house to see why he's missing.”

Leif nodded. “Good idea.”

So they left the cafeteria early to use the phone in the school's administrative office. The lady working behind the desk didn't want to let them use the phone at first but eventually gave in when it became apparent that Leif and Alicia weren't going to leave until they made a phone call.

The lady sighed. “Alright. But make it quick.”

Leif dialled Rex's home number and waited anxiously for someone to pick up. Alicia had her ear pressed against the receiver, which meant that she was standing very close to Leif. He could smell her hair. She smelled good.

Leif still had feelings for Alicia. But he had told himself that he wouldn't tell her. Alicia had been in the Void a lot longer than he had. She had recovered most of her memories but there were still a couple of instances when she didn't know what Rex and Leif were talking about. And Leif just didn't want to make things even more complicated than they were already.

Finally, Rex's mum picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello. This is Leif. Alicia and I were wondering why Rex isn't at school today?”

“Oh, dear me. You're calling from school, just to ask me that?”

“I'm sorry, Mrs. McClendon. We were just worried.”

Rex's mum sighed. “Rex has come down with something. He's got a bad cold. He's been sneezing and coughing all morning so I thought it would be best to keep him at home for today.”

Leif and Alicia both let out a sigh of relief. So, Rex was alright. He just had a cold. Now, that he thought about it, that made sense. They were out late last night and Rex hadn't brought a jacket. Leif had offered him his own because he was wearing a warm sweatshirt underneath but Rex had refused. He had said that it wasn't even that cold outside although he was clearly shivering in his think T-shirt. And now his stubbornness had earned him a cold.

Alicia whispered to Leif: “Ask if we can come over in the afternoon.”

Leif returned his attention to the phone in his hand. “Thank you, Mrs. McClendon. Would it be alright if Alicia and I came over today? To keep Rex company.”

“I don't know, dear. I don't want you two to get sick as well.”

“Please. We won't get sick. Please.”

Rex's mum sighed. “Alright. But only for a few hours. Rex still needs to rest.”

“Thank you, Mrs. McClendon. We'll come around after school. Goodbye!”

Leif hung up the phone and passed it back to the lady behind the desk. They thanked her for letting them use it and returned to their classes.

In the afternoon, they met up at Rex's house. Rex was clearly excited to see the two but he was also obviously very sick. He tried to play it off and pretend that he was doing fine but Leif caught every time when Rex suppressed a cough or a sneeze. They had a drawing competition (Alicia won), they played some other games, they had a fun afternoon overall. But Leif began to notice that Rex seemed more and more exhausted. He probably needed to rest to get rid of his cold.

So, Leif made up something about still having to do his homework and suggested that they went home. Rex agreed a little too quickly and Alicia was fine with it as well. They said goodbye to each other and to Rex's parents, went outside and got on their bikes.

Leif turned to Alicia. “Do you want me to escort you home?” He and Rex asked her every day, even though her answer was always the same. Normally, they split at a different street corner but from Rex's house, their respective homes lay in opposite directions.

Alicia looked down at the front wheel of her bike. “Actually, that would be nice.”

Leif was surprised but he didn't want to show it in order to not make Alicia uncomfortable. Maybe, the memories from the Void were especially strong for her at the moment and that's why she was afraid to bike home by herself. Leif didn't want to make her feel insecure about that.

They rode all the way to Alicia's home. It wasn't fully dark outside yet but the sun was setting. Leif rode slightly behind Alicia and kept his eyes on her. On the one hand, he wanted to make sure she was okay. On the other hand, he just liked looking at her and when she had her back towards him, it wasn't as creepy as it would be if she caught him.

Alicia was gorgeous. Her hair was gently swaying in the wind and Leif could not stop looking at her. Every time he shifted his gaze to the road, his eyes would eventually return to Alicia. Seeing her, being with her, always made him feel a certain warmth that he never felt around any other people. Leif loved her and he wanted to spend all his time with her. It didn't really matter if they ended up as a couple or just as friends, as long as he could be around her. He thought of that daydream he had had. Them, as old people, sitting by the fireplace, talking about their non-existent children. Leif's face involuntarily turned into a smile. He was glad Alicia couldn't see him.

They eventually arrived at her house and let their bikes come to a stop. Alicia hopped off her bike. Leif held up his hand for a goodbye high-five. “Alright, see you tomorrow.”

But Alicia didn't respond. Instead, she was staring at Leif with a blank expression, like there was something on her mind. Leif lowered his hand. “Is everything alright?”

Alicia looked down at the road. The grip on the handlebars of her bike that she was holding steadily next to herself tightened. “I –“, Alicia broke off, “There's something I've been meaning to say to you.”

Leif sensed that whatever she wanted to say was important. He got off of his bike and put it on its kickstand. Alicia did the same.

“Whatever it is”, Leif said, “You can talk to me.”

Alicia nervously ran a hand through her hair. Then she took a deep breath and looked up at Leif. “You know how, slowly, all my memories are coming back, from the time before the -” She gestured instead of naming the Void.

Leif nodded. By now, practically all her memories had come back. Alicia continued: “And you know how I've been keeping you and Rex updated whenever a memory came back.”

Leif nodded again. She had always double-checked with them if her newfound memories were true or not. They had all been true but she still checked every time. Alicia crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Well, there's one memory that I haven't talked to you about. Because at first, I wasn't sure what it was. It was just a feeling. But more like, a memory of a feeling. It felt very distant. But over the last couple of weeks, it has gotten stronger. And now it's a feeling again.” She locked eyes with Leif. “Like, a proper feeling.”

Leif was confused. He didn't understand what Alicia was talking about. And why was she discussing this only with him, without Rex?

“What I'm trying to say is: I know this is a very weird time in our lives right now and all that. And I don't know how you feel. But this has been sitting on my mind for a while now and I just need to tell you. Because I still feel like every day could be our last and this is not the kind of thing that I want to be left unsaid.”

Leif's brain was trying to process Alicia's words as quickly as possible. She was feeling something that she wanted to tell Leif about. Was it at all possible that maybe …?

“So, what I'm getting at here is: I like you, Leif. I like you a lot.”

Leif didn't hear the rest of what she said about how it was okay if he didn't feel the same and that they could just remain friends. All he could hear were these few words repeating endlessly in his head. _I like you, Leif._

His heart was no longer sitting in his chest. It had taken over his body. His heart beat was louder and stronger than ever before. It was restricting his breathing. Alicia liked him. Alicia _liked_ him. He felt dizzy.

Leif interrupted Alicia's ramble about how they could forget all about this if he wanted. He blurted out: “I like you too, Alicia.”

There was a shocked silence. Neither of them had anticipated this turn of events. Where would they go from here? Leif's heart beat was the only sound in the cold autumn air.

Then, without a word, Alicia stepped forwards and hugged Leif. Her face was buried in his shoulder and Leif didn't know what to do. This whole revelation was still so new to him, his mind was still in shock.

So he shut off his mind and simply did what felt right in the moment: He gently placed his hands on Alicia's back and hugged her. They stayed like this for a while, just holding each other without saying a word. There was nothing that needed to be said. Everything that mattered was right there between them.

**Author's Note:**

> This was kind of written in the spur of the moment because I just finished the book last night and I thought it was so good, I had to write something. So it's not my best work. But I hope you enjoyed it anyways. Please leave some feedback. Thanks. :)


End file.
